


Fates a fickle thing, isn't it?

by junebugtwin



Series: Ever After Shame [2]
Category: Ever After High
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Anxiety, Depression, Gen, History!, Hurt/Comfort, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ravens creepy house is practically a secondary character, and he deserves a good kick, baby raven being sad :(, but not in a fun way, headmaster grimm is an asshole, i ignore canon because i want to!, lore!, more characters will be added, raven gets peer pressured, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:33:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22524079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junebugtwin/pseuds/junebugtwin
Summary: Five more years. Five more years until she’s made a puppet of herself, a corpse with no mind of her own, her body moving and performing the actions demanded of it by the Book of Destiny- with Raven gone. Or, even worse- curled up in the back of her subconscious, watching with horror as she kills and hurts and poisons- screaming without a voice.Raven makes herself small, knees tucked into her chest, face buried in the mass of pillows, cold dread racking her like shivers- like she’s just been pushed into icy lake water and left to drown.It’s like dying.  She’ll be dead, or worse than it, at eighteen. Not even legal to drink in the kingdom, and she’ll be forced to sign her soul away with a flick of a quill---(or. a different perspective on destiny)
Series: Ever After Shame [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1620646
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52





	Fates a fickle thing, isn't it?

**Author's Note:**

> hello! Welcome to my version of Ever After High- a universe which I have spent an ashamedly long period of time thinking about. A lot of this won't make sense unless you read my other fic, 'Why Mary loves the lamb, you know, the teacher did reply' (long name I know). Seriously, this world, in many ways, does not resemble the canonical one except for in aesthetic- though I'd say that while my take is slightly darker, Ever After High has some surprisingly harsh topics for a kids show. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this mess!

When she’s younger they move her out from the school and into her mom’s house. It’s big- impossibly so, with winding corridors that seem to shift and rearrange themselves when you’re not paying attention. She decides against exploring it, mostly because she’s alone in the creepiest, most haunted-est house in possibly the world, and also twelve years old.

Its walls are old, but though they creak and groan, she can’t spot a single crack or stain on them, or any piece of furniture in the manor.

She gives up on lighting fireplaces when inevitably they all turn bright green and start smelling like brimstone and death.

There's an ancient looking library, absolutely filled with books- and dust- and she spends most of her time there, sequestered away in its somewhat comforting musty corners- piling the many tacky pillows in a small spot to make a sort of bed. She sleeps there more than she sleeps in her ‘room’, which she was told was on the third floor by Mr.Grimm- but she valiantly decides she’s never going anywhere close to the unstable and inexplicably ominous second floor stairway. So she basically lives in the library, only coming out to visit the bathroom and duck into the kitchen to make herself a hearty meal of instant ramen. 

No one visits her, expect for twice ever year when some royal soldiers come, and very reluctantly search the mansion for any trace of ‘dangerous materials’- AKA they want to see if she’s smuggling any mirrors to try to talk to her mom. She doesn’t understand why they think she’d be any less afraid of the famous witch than they are. It’s not exactly as if she and her mom are very alike- from what she’s heard at least.

And that becomes a problem.

Well. It had already been a problem- Ravens lack of ‘evil-ness’ and wicked cackling had always been a sore spot, but before she had at least had time. But now. Well. Now she’s twelve, and next year she’ll be going to Ever After High, then it’s only five more years until she’s the next Evil Queen.

Five more years. Five more years until she’s made a puppet of herself, a corpse with no mind of her own, her body moving and performing the actions demanded of it by the Book of Destiny- with Raven gone. Or, even worse- curled up in the back of her subconscious, watching with horror as she kills and hurts and _poisons_ \- screaming without a voice.

Raven makes herself small, knees tucked into her chest, face buried in the mass of pillows, cold dread racking her like shivers- like she’s just been pushed into icy lake water and left to drown.

It’s like dying. She’ll be dead, or worse than it, at eighteen. Not even legal to drink in the kingdom, and she’ll be forced to sign her soul away with a flick of a quill.

It’s all she can think about, even when Headmaster Grimm comes by, looking at her dusty, cobbled together half-room with unconcealed disgust, as if he wasn’t the one who forced her to live here in the first place.

He gives her a big speech on fate, and morals, and duty- tells her that its time she shaped up- it’s funny that in this context ‘shape up’ means become a worse person. But also its not funny at all- because why does she have to be cruel now, when she’s going to have to be that way for the rest of her miserable life anyway? Why can’t she just live her life the way she wants to live it, while she still can? If it’s destiny, then why does she have to practice?

She tries to ask the Headmaster, and he stands up so suddenly he topples a perilous pile of texts balancing beside his seat. The books crash to the creaking floors loudly, and it makes his abrupt movement even more jarring- Raven flinches, shaken by his quick change in demeanor- he had just been condescendingly kind just a moment ago- now his face is tight with barely concealed rage.

He looks at her like he’s looking at a filthy rat, or like a glop of hair he’s pulled out of his shower drain- like she’s not even human.

He takes a menacing step towards her, and she’s suddenly aware of how much bigger he is- how alone she is, all the way out here, her mother’s cursed house located as far as possible from any other settlement.

He looks her in the eye, and she curls her shoulders inward, trying to go invisible.

“One day you will be a traitor to the kingdom. It’s horrible. But necessary- for us all to keep living the kind of lives we live. One day, they will put you inside a mirror- but not right now. Because right now, you’re not a traitor. “ He pauses, pretending to think, now leaning over her.

“Are you? Because you’re smart. Top of your class. You know there are worse things than being stuck in mirrors. _Right_?” Raven barely breathes; hands gripping her own arms so hard her knuckles go white and she starts to bruise- the headmaster is threatening her. _Why is he_ \- all she did was ask a question- she wasn’t, she wasn’t a- a traitor!

She stares up at him, too scared to cry but feeling very much like she wants to- it’s not the first time an adult has been mean to her, far from it, but it is the first time an adults ever gone this far in terrorizing her.

Still. She nods frantically- she’s still not really sure what she did wrong, but if agreeing to this is going to get her out of this ‘conversation’ then she won’t hesitate- it’s not like she was planning on rebelling anyway.

The headmaster smiles- suddenly perfectly pleasant, and moves sharply away from her, leaning back out of her personal space. She breathes- audibly letting out a shaky pant- and he looks back at her quickly.

For a moment something flashes in his expression, his brows dipping for a moment as he stares at the paleness of her skin and the glistening of unshed tears in her eyes- and then it’s gone, and he smirks.

“I’m glad we understand each other then, Raven Queen. I think we’ll do just fine next year.”

Raven watches him leave- something angry and bitter taking up the place where fear used to be- and somehow she doubts it.

(in a mirror somewhere, her mother lets out a laugh)


End file.
